Where To, This Summer?
by shad0wcast
Summary: Amou Nami is on a special mission for the school paper's special issue. She takes her handy camera and notepad and recorder with her to interview the most popular people on the school grounds. Question: What is your dream summer escapade?
1. Chapter 1

**Where To, This Summer?**

**A/N:** Since it's summer, I decided to do a fic (_humor _fic) on LCDO. (I know, I fail at making humor) Enjoy my attempt to be funny. Your reviews are very much appreciated.

**Disclaimer: **I, sadly, do not own these adorable characters.

**One: One-Way Trip to North Pole**

"Is this thing working already?" Amou Nami asked as she shook the little recorder that was handed to her by a club member. "Yeah. Fixed it already. You should be more careful this time, Amou-san." He replied as he wiped his grease-stained hands. "Thank you so much, Ikuno-kun. I owe you one." She said the kept the gadget in her pocket. "Don't mention it. What are you planning to do with that, anyway?" he asked. Amou wrinkled her nose and checked on her wristwatch. "He'll be helping me a lot with the project that I proposed." She answered vaguely. "Oh well, if that's the case, I wish you luck. Now that you mentioned it, I remembered that I need to do some editing too." He bid his goodbye and the two parted ways.

The sneaky journalist trotted to the school grounds, hoping to catch on one of the bunch of her favorite subject: the concour participants. In the earlier stages of the competition, articles about these students were the talk of the town and the ratings of the school paper grew tremendously. Every time the participants would perform, she and the rest of the club would be working their heads out to give a good edition of the paper. Though tired, she and the other members were happy that the school was always looking for the newest scoops and articles regarding the said competition. And in the course of the event, she had made friends with the subjects.

But like all things, the concours must end. And with this decline in activity from the contest, the number of subscribers had declined too. The bustling office was now dull and seemed lifeless. Stacks of unread papers filled most of the spaces meant for other important stuff. Photos and articles that are yet to be edited and compiled grew considerably. Some members were already planning to quit since the club seems to be dying already, which pierced her heart even more. Her superior had already poured out his great sorrow about the club's condition to her, too.

To save everyone from this misery, she thought of releasing a new issue that deals with the concour participants. The club agreed to it and decided that they would help her. The buzz came back to everyone, like some saving electric current, and gave life to the brains and hands of the club.

Amou's smile immediately flashed when she saw a concour participant. "Got you, Dozer." She muttered then picked up her speed. She didn't want to miss such fast opportunity. "Shimizu-kun!" she called as she approached the first year cello major.

"Good afternoon, Amou-sempai." He softly greeted as he bowed his head in slow-mo. "Are you free? Can I get a few words from you?" she asked, fishing the recorder from her pockets and setting it on. The first year stared back at her with those glazed eyes.

"What is that for, Amou-sempai?"

"Eh? Ah…nothing. I might forget something so think of it as a reinforcement squad."

"Will that be used against me?"

"Of course not! As I told you, it's just for back-up in case I miss out something."

"What do you want to ask me, Amou-sempai?" Shimizu fought the urge to yawn. He thought of the way how his yawn might sound in the recorder.

Nami grinned and quickly took out her notebook and pen. "This will be very quick. Can you tell me what your dream summer escapade is? And if you could include someone in that escapade, what would it be?" she asked with expectant eyes. The first year looked back at her blankly and drifted his gaze. "Well…" Shimizu started and his face started to have that peaceful look. Nami gulped as she waited for his response.

"I want to go to North Pole."

Nami blinked hard. "Huh?"

"I want to go to North Pole."

"W-What are you going to do there? Play with the penguins and make snow angels? Besides, isn't that supposed to be a Christmas wish?"

"I want to see Santa. And it's hot when it's summer. I want to go somewhere cool."

The journalist's face fell. "Seriously?" her tone was dead flat. She wasn't sure if she was just hearing things or the kid has serious mental problems. "Yes. I wanted to see his elves and his toy making factory and his reindeer!" he said as animatedly as possible. Nami stared at him like he was some deranged kid who got lost between reality and fantasy.

"Uh, Amou-sempai, aren't you going to write that in your notebook?" Shimizu pointed out to the journalist's tools. "It's fine. Remember, I have a tape recorder with me." She monotonously replied, still with that straight look. "Oh, I understand." The smile on the lad's face was still hanging like the one on the Cheshire Cat.

"Will there be more?" she asked the dreaded question. Shimizu nodded happily and stated more things that Nami didn't expect to hear like trying to ride on the sleigh or helping in putting the tags and names on the gift or being dressed like an elf. She was expecting to hear stuff like music conventions, attending concerts or sleeping all day. Whatever works, but not Santa and the North Pole.

"You're not kidding, right? I mean, seriously, you really want to go to that place?" she asked then tried to force certain calmness into her system. Maybe the kid hit his head somewhere. Or he got abducted by aliens and his brain was experimented on, thus having this weird conversation.

"Well, that is my dream summer experience, Amou-sempai." The tone on his voice made Amou guilty of how she thought of him. Well, he's still a first year and based from her researching, he has younger siblings. Maybe he still has that small percentage of childish hormones lingering in his body. "Ah, I didn't mean anything there. I just thought that it was a bit bizarre. But it's cute." She said then scribbled on her notebook. "I hope many people will like your issue, Amou-sempai." Shimizu cheered on. "Thanks. That's so nice of you." She returned a smile. "Is the interview over? I feel like wanting to take a small nap before the lunch break ends." He said then covered his mouth to yawn. "Well, there's actually one thing that you can do for me." Amou said then kept her writing materials and turned off the recorder. This time, she took her handy-dandy camera.

"Shimizu-kun, I need a photo of you for this article. Can you pose for me?" she asked when the horrendous interview was done, thankfully, and as she was setting her camera on. "What pose shall I do?" the first year inquired. "Something summer." She muttered while adjusting the lens. "Summer?" Shimizu repeated and pondered for a while. "Maybe we can try that tree over there as a background. Looks very shady, very summer." She said and Shimizu tilted his head to the direction of the tree. "I think so too, Amou-sempai." He replied. "Alright, are you ready for your pose?" she asked. The lad nodded softly.

The lad walked under the tree and sat. He leaned his head on the trunk and closed his eyes. He adjusted and shifted himself before giving a satisfied sigh. A certain look crossed his face. "Ah, that is a refreshing pose, Shimizu-kun! Wonderful!" she said then took shots. "Okay, that's great. Can you do another?" she asked.

Shimizu kept on posing.

"Shimizu-kun, it's fine already. Do another pose. It's the last one, I promise." She said a little bit louder. But the cellist didn't budge. Nami started to feel awkward. "Shimizu-kun?" she asked again. The cellist mumbled something and he turned his head away. 

"Are you sleeping in on me? Hey, wake up Shimizu-kun! Wake up!" she said as she nudged the kid awake. Sadly, he wouldn't let someone intervene with his own dream escapade.

"San…ta…" he muttered with a slight smile on his face. A horrified look came on Nami's face. "No…not that dream. Get back here, Shimizu-kun! Get a hold of yourself! Come back!" she said, shaking the poor kid to wakefulness.

"That's a very nice gift…thank you…San..ta…"

All hope faded away from Nami. "He left me on North Pole. Am I really supposed to write his interview?" she asked herself as she watched Shimizu gave a little giggle.

"A little editing will do. I have no choice. I'm stranded at North Pole." She said and with that, left the sleeping cellist as he takes on his North Pole escapade.


	2. Chapter 2

**Two: Tarzan and Shouko**

The refreshing drink helped a lot in getting back Amou to her drive to get the interviews done. One down, six to go. At least, the interview with Shimizu was over, and that alone meant too much to the lady journalist. He wasn't even able to answer the second question of who would he like to accompany him. "Like there's someone who would want to join him." She muttered.

"Amou-sempai, good afternoon." A soft angelic voice graced Amou's ears. "Fuyumi-chan! How wonderful it is t see you!" she replied and the girl blushed. "It is great to see you too." She whispered. Then, that wave of slyness rested on her mind. "Hey, Fuyumi-chan, are you busy?" she asked the rehearsed line to the shy clarinet player. "No, Amou-sempai. Why?" she asked back. The journalist waved her notebook at the first year. "I want to ask you some things. Don't worry, you wont get bad publicity with this question." She said.

"O-Okay. I'd be glad to help you." The kind girl only made Amou more excited. Secretly, Amou turned on the tape recorder again and prayed to the Heavens that Fuyumi would be able to be normal. "So, the question is, what is your dream summer escapade?"

The stroke of pink on her cheeks made Amou smile. "Well…" Fuyumi started then fiddled with her fingers. "You see…" she trailed off again then her shade got pinker by the second. "Well? What is it?" Amou was getting all giddy inside too. She's imagining a cute little beach party or maybe like the one they had in their manor. Surely, that would be fun.

"I kind of like the idea of hiking in the mountains." She whispered then smiled sheepishly. Surprising response but at least not so farfetched. "Ah, that sounds great! You like hiking, Fuyumi-chan?" Amou asked as she scribbled on her notebook. "Not really, Amou-sempai."

"Eh? Then why hiking?"

"I uhm…wanted to see something for myself."

"May I know what is it?"

The pause that the girl had given her seemed familiar to the journalist. A little cold feeling crept down to her spine but she brushed it off, knowing that a good scoop was coming up. Right now, her focus was on Fuyumi's response.

"I…well, not that I believe it but what I really wanted to do is to go in a very dense jungle and…see if a man like Tarzan does or can exist." She humbly answered and a look of relief came on her face. It was like she had just revealed the greatest secret of her life. Amou mentally slapped herself to awake her conscious self from this weird string of events.

"Tarzan? The jungle man?" Amou repeated. Maybe she just heard it wrong. Fuyumi would never say such things—

"Yes, Amou-sempai! You know him too?" The cheery expression painted on her charming face equaled to that of a ghost suddenly appearing in a horror movie in Amou's eyes. "That's…that's…cool?" Amou replied, all the while restraining her eyebrows to twitch. _This is not happening! Not happening! _Amou told herself. But the look on Fuyumi's face dissolved all her efforts.

"A-And what would you do if ever you find a man like Tarzan?" Amou almost stabbed herself with the pen she was holding for asking the forbidden question in times like this. Fuyumi clapped her hands softly and smiled even more. "I'll ask him if he can take me to his place. I mean, to where he usually stays with his family, uh, I mean the people, er, the animals that he considers family." She said while waving her hands frantically whenever she corrected herself. Nami feigned some laugh as the girl was saying her response. "That seems a lot of fun!" she commented.

"A-And!" Fuyumi said. "And I want to see how they live and experience going through branches of the big trees-"

"Let me guess. By vine-swinging?" Amou's tone returned to dead flat again.

"Exactly! Oh, I'm so happy that you get me, Amou-sempai!" Fuyumi could almost cry with the joy she was feeling. "I'm happy too, Fuyumi-chan. You have a very wonderful dream summer escapade. Wow." She replied. Mentally, tears of confusion and unexplained dissatisfaction of how her series of interviews were going were flowing like endless rivers.

Fuyumi heaved a sigh and composed herself. "I am so happy that I got the be interviewed by you in this topic, Amou-sempai." She said then bowed. "A-Ah, don't mention it. I'd also like to ask a simple pose from you for this interview. Just once simple summer-inspired pose." She said then too her camera. At least, she thought, maybe this would turn out good. Besides, it's not like in the character of Fuyumi to pose like Tarzan or something. Maybe she'll do a very decent pose.

Not in the character, huh?

What greeted Amou's eyes and lenses were beyond her line of reasoning. What is happening to the world? Why is everyone like this?

There, standing on top of the bench, was the demure Fuyumi, posed in such a way that she was holding an imaginary vine. Complete with the facial expression and the outstretched leg. "Amou-sempai!" Fuyumi waved her other hand to her, like she was enticing her to capture the scene.

With unsteady hands and a silent apology to her camera and eyes, she took the photo of Fuyumi Shouko, vine-swinging with her imaginary Tarzan.


	3. Chapter 3

**Three: The Perverted Beach Party**

**A/N: **Warning, two words: AmouXTsuchiura implication. (Was it really two words?)

The slumped figure of Amou can be seen at the back of the school building, with a ninety-seven percent of finding another human soul besides her. Her palms covered her face and in irregular intervals, sighs of frustration, annoyance and loss of hope were being released. Amou was already feeling that aching throb in her head, the pulsing of her veins with the incomprehensible turn of events. First, the sleepy Shimizu then now the demure Fuyumi. Who's next? Kaho eating fireballs and Yunoki-sempai dancing in hula skirts?

When she had realized that sulking in this deserted corner of Seiso would do nothing to help her, she dragged her feet up back to their club's office for a little break. As a journalist on duty, she has special permission to roam around school during classes _provided_ that their leave is connected to their assignment.

Ah, the perks of being a journalist!

As she was passing by the great lobby of the school, which was one of the adjoining sections of their unique school, she saw two huddled figures at the back of the farthest pillar. She really wouldn't have thought of sticking her nose in their business when she noted that stern shushing manly voice and the uncontrollable laughter of the other.

Plus, both had green hair.

One was having a uniform of the General Education Department. The other was sporting a Music Department's.

Her eyes narrowed down to them and as sneaky as she can be, she went behind them. But her shadow seemed to be playing against her so her secret approach didn't seem to be secret at all.

"Hey, what are you two doing here, skipping class?" she asked with her raised eyebrow and crossed arms. Two green haired lads both gave a nervous smile and quickly hid something. "We should be asking you that question, Amou." There came the strict sounding guy between the two. She met his golden orbs and he quickly averted them. "You know very well that a journalist on duty is exempted from class. Now, answer my question." She demanded.

"Well, we were just…we weren't doing anything wrong, okay." The bubbly one said, his hands waving and turning faster and faster. The other one nodded his head to support what his companion had related. Amou crossed her arms and nodded. "Uh-huh. I can see that very well. Now, what are you really up to?" she insisted. She had the gut feeling that what they were doing _and_ hiding was something worth her time.

"Do people from your club really have to be this nosy?" the taller one retorted. "Sadly, no. It just happened that I am the nosiest and thus, best journalist of our club. So you better tell me what you are doing and what you are hiding there." She said as she tried to grab the thing from behind him. "O-Oi! Stop that!" his muscular body proved to be a great hindrance in her little ordeal.

"Tsuchiura, you better give me that now!" she insisted. The pianist jerked, spun and twirled away just to keep the thing from Amou's hands. "Hihara-sempai! Catch!" he suddenly said then threw the item at the trumpeter. "Hihara-sempai, give it to me." Amou now walked to the stunned Music Department student. "A-Ah! No!" he said then did the same. Although he wasn't that tall and muscular compared to the pianist, he was as stubborn. "Really! I want to know what you're hiding!" she hissed. The item was again passed to Tsuchiura. "And why would you want to know? It's a private thing, okay?" the pianist shot back. "I have the feeling that you two are up to no good. I mean," she paused to gather a breath, which the two did too. "You two are one of the last persons in my list of who's going to cut classes. If it really is no bad thing and deserving for classes to be cut, then why don't you show it to me?"

"It's private too."

"It's like I'm that talkative. Besides, have you ever heard of me giving you bad publicity?"

"It's not that we don't trust you, Amou-san." Hihara interjected. "As what Tsuchiura-kun had told you, it really is a private thing. So please." The smile on his face only intensified the need inside of her to know the truth.

"Hey, Hihara-sempai, it's our turn now!" a guy suddenly appeared from the Music Department. "Don't be greedy!" another one came to view. The four men looked at each other when they realized that Amou, the journalist, was there too. "Uh…we'll see you later." The first guy said then stepped back. He was followed by the second guy who gave apologizing looks to the two concours participants before following his companion. When they were out of earshot, Amou tackled Tsuchiura and the attack surprised the two men. Tsuchiura's hand gave away and the thing fell off. Hihara gasped in horror and fell on his knees. Tsuchiura stepped back and was only able to watch as Amou picked the controversial item.

"What…is this?" her voice was barely a whisper. "It's not like what you're thinking, Amou." Tsuchiura answered her. Her eyes darted to the two with surprise painted in vivid colors in her blue orbs. How can these two men do this? How?

She held up her free hand to them and looked away as she tried to calm herself. She was definitely not expecting to see this. Hell, she wasn't expecting anything like this from the start. "Amou?" Hihara's voice gently broke her silence. Heaving a heavy sigh, she looked at them with that amused look.

"I cant believe that you two would be involved into something like this."

Tsuchiura gave a loud grunt and covered his face with both palms. "As what we've been telling you, it's not what you think it is!" his voice was getting edgier by the minute. "Oh really? How will you explain this, then?" Amou shrieked her growing disbelief that had been forming since Shimizu's interview. She flapped the open glossy book at them. Hihara looked away with an obvious blush and Tsuchiura's brows kept on twitching as he was fighting the urge to look away.

"With all those expressions on your faces, I can already tell that _this_ is no good." She said exasperatedly. "Come on, don't be a jerk, Amou! We haven't even explained anything! You just keep on jumping to conclusions! We're innocent!" The pianist fought.

"Uhm, guys…"

"Explain? _Explain_? Can you hear yourself? Do you realize that-"

"Shut up or I'll kiss you!"

Now that stopped Amou and made the trumpeter gasp. "W-What?" Amou was more disgusted than any other thing. "Excuse me?" she repeated to the pianist who had made that statement. "N-Nothing." The guy before her retaliated. "My goodness, are you out of your mind? What if somebody hears you? That will seriously jeopardize all of us!" she replied.

"I-Including me?" Hihara pointed a finger to himself. "Yes, sempai." Amou replied without even looking at him. "How did that happen?" Hihara's voice rose for about three octaves. Amou and Tsuchiura whipped their heads at him, unable to believe that Hihara's voice turned to that.

"Uh, I mean, how did that happen?" the trumpeter repeated with his normal voice but was answered with silence. The shock was left them unable to speak for a few minutes.

"Alright, let's all have a talk. I know that there are a lot of unexplained things that we all want to solve, so, can we just forget about what had transpired to everyone of us and start anew?" Hihara asked the two other figures. "I agree with that." Tsuhiura immediately gave his approval. Obviously.

"Amou?" Hihara offered his hand. "Let's forgive and forget." He added when the journalist kept staring at his outstretched hand.

"Sheesh, Amou, just accept it, for goodne-"

"Alright, alright. Start anew." She said then shook hands with Hihara then at Tsuchiura. "I also needed something from you so I think it really is proper this way." She admitted and smiled again.

Hihara cleared his throat. "Now, before anything else, Tsuchiura and I would want to clear certain things up. One, we are not the owners or makers of that thing. Two, we were just asked to participate, and three, we were not thinking of _certain_ things while looking at those." The eldest of the three said. "He's right. It may look like it but trust me, it's not." The pianist repeated his statement from earlier.

"Then what were you really doing with all these?" she asked as she flipped through the book that was covered in _piano music sheet book_ to avoid suspicion. "And you even dared use Rachmaninov as a cover. Desperate much?" her tone was lighter now, though her words impaled them with the truth. Tsuchiura apologized to the pianist, wherever he was now.

"It's just a little…you know, men's thing." Hihara admitted. There were really no other words left to describe it. "But not exactly like that. I mean, look at it. Does it have…those kinds of images that you commonly see in those kinds of…of…of…" he trailed off.

"I get you, Hihara-sempai." Amou replied as she scanned the picture book. On the outside, Rachmaninov was used to cover the secret that this book held. Once you are able to get past through the first few pages, the real deal starts.

Inside were candid and secret shots of beautiful and popular women in Seiso. Wow, what a dangerous and deadly book it was! Who would have really ever thought that this would be caught in the hands of these two men here? No one, right?

"Why were you looking through this, in the first place? Do you even know that some of my missing shots were included here? Take this photo of Kawagiri-sensei! And this too, of Taneda and Noriyama! I thought I misplaced them!" she pointed out.

"It's all the soccer team's idea." The pianist said. "But I wasn't part of the plan. I just happen to overhear them." He said then resigned to a sigh. "It all started last week. It's not unknown to you that summer break is almost here and that people are already planning their summer activities but since the team will be doing a summer camp training, their hopes of a grand vacation was somehow stopped. To compensate for that, they collected pictures of their crushes here in Seiso and created a picture book. The pictures there are the girls that the team wants to be together with for the whole summer. Basically, it's just for the soccer team but word of it spread fast to the males. Soon, more men, even those in the Music Department, wanted to participate." He related.

"But you said that you were only asked to participate. Can you elaborate more of this?" Amou asked, that reporter tone getting back in her voice.

"We didn't really want to be a part of it but well, it's the trend. Besides, I thought that…well, there may be someone's picture included there. I wanted to see who signed their names up on those girls that I knew." Hihara's face grew pinker and pinker. Amou bit her tongue to avoid laughing at him. "Does the same goes for you, too, Tsuchiura?" she asked the pianist.

"Y-Yeah, you could say so."

"May I know whose pictures were you specifically trying to look for in this picture book?"

Both men blushed hard at the question. "No!" they said at the same time. Amou was taken aback and then started to laugh. "Okay, okay. I get it. It's too personal, isn't it? Okay, I wont stick my nose any further. But you do realize that even if the picture book wasn't containing any immodest stuff, the purpose is just like the common picture books, right? It will eventually lead you guys to fantasize about these women here. And imagination has no limits." She said. The two men looked down and nodded, like some little kids being reprimanded.

The trumpeter shifted his feet. "A-Are you going to tell this to the faculty?" his voice was little. Amou pondered on it for a moment. "No but I want my pictures back. Also, this is going to be a traumatic event on the girls' side if ever they will learn about it. So, burn all the pictures in here. Stop passing this book to all the guys." She demanded. The two looked at each other for a few seconds. "I guess you're right, Amou. It wasn't really good in the first place, even if it didn't contain any immoral or immodest thing." Tsuchiura said.

Amou smiled at the two and patted their backs. "There, there! All doors are now closed. Let's all walk away from each other forgetting this incident." She said and the three of them were able to smile more naturally now. 

"Thank you, Amou. We wouldn't forget this. We're sorry if we offended you somehow." Hihara apologized. "Yeah, sorry Amou." Tsuchiura did the same. "It's nothing. Just don't forget about the deal, okay? See you." She said then trotted off. Before she was about to disappear from the other end, she was stopped by Tsuchiura's strong grip. "Yes?" she inquired.

"I thought there was something you wanted to ask us and I believe that it has nothing to do with the picture book." He responded. Realization immediately sprung from Amou's mind. Right! She still hasn't asked them about their dream summer escapade. "Uh…" she muttered as she tried to brainstorm. Then, that sudden flash of resolution occurred to her. The old sly smile of Amou Nami was revived. "Actually, I was thinking if I could have the picture book. It'll be much if it were to be found in my hands, don't you think?" she reasoned out.

"Guess so."

"Can I have it, then?"

"Okay." Tsuchiura agreed and gave her the picture book. Amou grinned happily and thanked the pianist before dashing away.

Once alone in the club room, she immediately rummaged through the pictures, looking for Hihara and Tsuchiura's signatures written under one of the photos. She instantly saw the very small signature of the senior under a certain red-haired violinist's picture. "Really, sempai!" she muttered then scanned the pages again.

She was already nearing the end of the picture book but still, Tsuchiura's name was yet to be found. This was getting unsettling for Amou. What if the pianist didn't sign his name?

But what greeted her at the very last page was too much for her to comprehend. It was empty save for one picture: hers. What was more surprising was the _sole_ name under it.

"Perverts." She muttered then closed the picture book. "What perverted minds they have!" she hissed then shoved the book inside her cabinet.


	4. Chapter 4

**Four: The Girl Who Badly Needs Adventure In Her Life**

**A/N: **Ack! Sorry for the very slow reply! I happened to be involved in a new story and yeah, I got stuck with the updates both here and there. LOL. Anyway, I hope I did Hino justice. This was done before I was about to go to bed. And by going to bed, I meant that I was staying up when I shouldn't be.

She was now the epitome of desperation, frustration and confusion. Never had she experienced something like this in her role as a journalist. Why was this happening to her? Had she made a terrible mistake? Was the world now getting back to her?

Was she cursed?

Amou slapped herself to regain sanity. No, this was no time to be dilly-dallying. She's gotten halfway through already. There was no way that she would back down now. She has to be strong to fulfill her duties. Right, she has to focus.

Determination once again ran through her veins. "I must accomplish this. Everyone in the club is doing their job fervently. I cant face them if I fail." She told herself. So what if the interviews were being like this? Like she can do anything now. She asked and they answered.

But her friends' reputations are at risk! What if the interviews get worse? Oh sweet merciful God, please don't let it turn that way, she prayed.

Amou finally decided to return to class. Maybe a good distraction will help her. She checked on the time and saw that if she would sprint now, she would be able to catch up with her Home Economics class.

Good news was, she made it on time. Better news was they were going to make desserts, a field that she can brag on.

Bad news was she wasn't part of the group that was going to do the activity. In other words, she was free until the next class. Which happens to be about one hour more. Which also equates to free and undisturbed and undistracted time. "Well, to other members of the class, your turn will be next week. Be sure to sign your name in the attendance, though." Their teacher said as she let Nami's group out of the laboratory.

With a groan, she dragged her feet back to their room and slumped over her table. She breathed in and out for a few minutes, liking the calming effect it gave on her stressed body and spirit. "I have one hour. Maybe a little nap of thirty minutes would do." She whispered and closed her eyes…

Ding dong ding!

Amou's eyes flew open upon that clanging sound. She jerked her head up and saw that the rays of the sun were already slightly slanted and starting to have that orange tint. "What in the world-!" she hissed as she noticed that the classroom was being evacuated. "Oh, Amou. Good thing you weren't noticed by the teacher. You have to thank Shiratori-kun for being tall enough to hide you. Man, he deserves a treat from you!" A guy passed by her. "Huh? You mean I slept until last period?" she asked him. "Uh-huh. The teacher thought that you were on duty so, yeah." He said with a wink. "Uh, thanks." She said then hurriedly fixed her own stuff.

After saying her goodbyes to some of her classmates, she ran out to the corridor and went to the lobby. She saw Hihara with the other guys again. The trumpeter saw her and froze and he shook his head. "He's obviously not going to do that again." She muttered then nodded at him. Being aware of the time limit that she now had, she began walking to the rehearsals studio.

"I am sure that she would be very reasonable and sane with her answers. I have faith in you, Hino-san! Please don't fail me!" she silently said when she knocked on a particular room. The sound of violin died instantly and the door was opened from the other end.

"Hey there! Can I talk to Hin-"

SLAM

Amou blinked at the door before her. "Seriously." She hissed then took the handle. She would have to force herself into the room if that's what he wants.

Unfortunately, the door clicked lock. With her blue eyes wide, she gripped the poor thing with both hands and shook it. "Damn it, Tsukimori! Open the door!" she said. "Get away. You're wasting our time." A man's muffled voice came from the other side. "Oh, don't be funny. Open this door at once." She said. The man replied no more and the next thing she heard were fading footsteps. "H-Hey! Tsukimori! Ice cube! Open this door!" she banged on. She heard a faint sound of a woman's voice, and by the tone of it she was begging the ice block to let her in. In a matter of five seconds, the door was opened.

And this time, by an angel. Amou wasn't able to control herself and hugged the red-haired violinist. "Ah, I love you so much Hino-san! You are heaven sent!" she said and the violinist giggled.

"Two minutes, Hino." The man's cold voice sounded before the angel closed the door. "You better tell that tutor of you to loosen up!" Amou wrinkled her nose. "I'll see what I can do, Amou-san. Do you need anything from me?" Hino asked with her usual warm smile. "Not that much, really. I just wanted to get an interview from you. You just have to answer a very simple question and you're good." She said, digging her pen from her pocket and switching on the recorder at the same time.

"Okay. What is the question, then?"

"What is your dream summer escapade? And if you will be able to bring one person to that escapade, who will it be and why?"

Hino thought for a moment. "Well…I'm not really much of a summer person. I'd like to stay indoors and help with my mother's little garden!" she happily said.

Amou chuckled at the kind heart of her friend. "That's really nice but if you could go out and do some summer stuff, what would it be?" Amou repeated. Her pen was craving for juicy notes!

Hino giggled and smiled at Amou. "I'd really like to stay at home and help with whatever stuff." She insisted. A cold sweat dropped from Amou's forehead. "Not even a beach party?" she offered.

"It's fun making flower gardens and doing chores, Amou-san." The smile was eternally plastered on Hino's face. It totally freaked Amou out.

"What about a hiking? Or a tour of the town?"

"Ah, the garden is really nice when the flowers all bloom! Lots and lots of colors!"

"What about going to Nao and Mio's houses and doing sleepovers?"

"Why, Mio has not yet seen the flower garden that Mother and I had done! Surely, she would love to see those! Thank you for giving me a wonderful idea!" Hino happily clapped.

"Uh…Hino…"

The door went open and a glare fixed itself on Amou. "Hino, your two minutes is up. Get back inside and do the fifth to the eight bar." He barked and Hino nodded to Amou. "I have to go. See you around, Amou-san!" Hino said and went in.

Again, Amou was facing the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Five: The Man Who Badly Needs A Life**

His golden orbs went wide a little first then it quickly squinted to a glare. Another set of gold eyes went wide but this time, with surprise. "Amou-san, you're still here?"

Blue eyes darted to the inquirer and smiled. "Oh, yeah. My interview's not yet done, actually." She answered. "Eh? But I have answered your question already, haven't I?" the red head asked as she blinked fast. "You are done, Hino-san but the _ice cube_ here is not." She hissed as she looked to the still glaring third figure on their little troupe. "You are interrupting us, Amou-san." He coldly replied.

"If you'd just answer my question, and mind you, it's a very simple one, then you won't find yourself being bugged so much. It's just _one_ very simple question." She said back. "Uh, yeah, Tsukimori-kun. It's a very simple question." The read head seconded the journalist.

The prodigy, Tsukimori Len, darted his eyes from the red head to the annoying orange-head. "Fine." He said and stood straight, towering the girls. "What do you want to ask me?" he asked with an air of royalty. The journalist mumbled something and switched on the tape recorder. "Okay, here's the question." She started then quickly glanced at the red head who watched with expectant eyes. "What is your dream summer escapade and who do you want to bring with you on that?"she asked, pen and notebook ready too.

"What? What nonsense is this now?" Tsukimori asked back. "Just answer it. Then it's over. I wont press you any other thing." Amou insisted, her fingers aching to get some real juicy scoop. Tsukimori sighed and turned away. "Where do you think you're going? Answer the question first!" Amou pulled his arm back. "Oh please, Amou-san. Do you seriously think that I will waste my time in that kind of interview?" he jerked back his arm and fixed his uniform. Amou's blood boiled hot at him. "For Heaven's sake, Tsukimori, just answer the damn question!" the journalist was starting to feel really edgy now. "Why do you care about my summer activities? Have you finally crossed the line to being a stalker now?" he asked back with a mocking smile. "Hey, watch your language. I can sue you for that!" she charged.

"Uh…Amou-san, Tsukimori-kun, please talk calmly. We, uh, you are getting attention already."

Amou rolled her eyes and pointed a finger to Tsukimori. "Talk some sense to him, Hino-san. He's the one who's not cooperating." She said. Tsukimoru sighed and started to walk away. "I have no time for this." He muttered. Amou shook her head and ran to barricade him. "Oh no, mister. You're not going anywhere. Answer my question first!" she insisted, side stepping every time the lad would try to get through her.

"What's wrong in here?" a deep voice sounded form behind. "Ah, Tsuchiura-kun!" Hino greeted. The green haired raised a brow in greeting. "I heard shouting. I never thought it would be you two who's bickering in the hallway." He mocked and he was instantly hit by the cover of a pen. He glared at Amou, the obvious culprit, who looked majestically victorious. "Serves you right for meddling into other people's businesses." She said. Tsukimori sighed again (The heck? Again?) and continued to walk away. "Oi, we're not yet done, Tsukimori!" Amou said and dashed to follow him. "H-Hey! So you're just gonna walk away like that after hitting someone?" Tsuchiura followed. Hino took a second before following them too. "Please calm down, everyone!" she called to the trio who did not heed her.

"Amou-san, will you stop following me? I've had enough of your nonsense inquiries." Tsukimori said as he turned on a corner. Amou followed and tried to keep up with his pace. "Just answer the damn question and were through! Is it really that hard?" she asked.

"Hey, we're not yet done too. Throwing something like that could have seriously injured me, you know." Tsuchiura butted in. "I don't care. Besides, will you get off us? You're intruding my job." She said and whipped her head away and continued to follow the violinist who was close to getting out of the school gate.

"Tsukimori, I promise that this is the last time that I'm going to ask you something so stupid, just as you insisted! Answer the question now!" she screeched as Tsukimori's pace began to increase. He stopped and looked back, his glare enough to send the dead further down the earth. "You want an answer for your-?"

"YES!"

"Fine! My dream summer escapade is a silent 24/7 quality time with myself. In my room. Alone." He said then stormed away. "What…?" Amou asked. She tried to follow him but he was already out in the crowd. "Did I hear it right? _That_ is his dream summer escapade? That doesn't even count as an escapade at all!" she stomped her feet and almost bent the pen in two. "Whoa, easy there." Tsuchiura was now behind her. "Amou-san!" Hino's voice was farther behind. Amour gritted her teeth and stormed to the green haired. "This is all your fault! If you didn't intervene with my interview then I would have a better answer! I'm sure he only said that just to get away from me!" she hissed then walked past him, hitting him as she did. "O-Oi! What was that for?" Tsuchiura growled at the journalist. "Bah! I've had enough! Everyone's insane!" she said as she passed by Hino who was just able to catch up with them. "Amou…san?" she looked at the cursing journalist.

"Why must Tsukimori have a very boring existence?" she asked to herself as she kicked a stone. "He doesn't even have a life!" she added then growled in anger.

In a far off distance, Tsuchiura and Hino were both looking at her with confused looks. "What happened to her?" Hino asked. Tsuchiura shrugged his shoulders in reply. "She got dumped by Tsukimori?" he offered and the red head quickly looked at him with wide eyes and a flushing face. Tsuchiura grinned back and laughed. "Kidding. I asked her out, actually. She couldn't believe I won on to which place we should meet. You know how much she hates to lose." He added and the flush on Hino's face intensified.

"Kidding again!"


End file.
